REPORTED SPEECH

Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. To do this, we can use
direct speech or indirect speech.

direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel.

indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank.

In indirect speech, we often use a tense which is 'further back' in the past (e.g. worked) than the
tense originally used (e.g. work). This is called 'backshift'. We also may need to change
other words that were used, for example pronouns.

Present Simple  Past Simple

She Always wear a coat  He said that she always wore a coat.

Present continuous  Past Continuous

I’m looking for my keys  She said that she was looking for her keys.

Present Perfect  Past Perfect

She has written three letters for her friend  He said that she had written three letters for
her friends.

Past Simple  Past Perfect

My friend gave me a bar of chocolate  He said that his friend had given him a bar of
chocolate.

Will  Would
I will finish my report in two days  he said that he would finish his report in two days.
Can  Could
I can speak French  She said that she could speak French.

May  Might
I may invite them to dinner  She said that she might invite them to dinner.

Must  Had to
I must go to the bank and get some money  She said that she had to go to the bank and
get some money.

We can’t forget that also the time expressions frequently change in the following way:

Today  That day

Tonight  that night
Tomorrow  The next/following day
Next week  the next/following week
Ago  before
Last week  the previous week/ month the week/ month before

One last thing that we have to have in mind are the reported
question.
First and most important we do not include question tags in reported questions.
When we report short answers, we use the auxiliary or modal verb from the short answer.
Ej: Do you know the time? I don’t  he asked me if I knew the time and I said I didn’t.
To report a yes or no question (on that has no question word) we use whether or if
Ej: is it snowing? She asked  she asked if it was snowing.
Ej: Do you live in Bristol? She asked me  she asked me whether I lived in Bristol.